The system of the invention is of the same general type as described in Darwood U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,274 which issued Nov. 9, 1976 and which is assigned to the present assignee. The telephone answering system described in the Darwood patent is one which includes a first magnetic tape (T-1) on which an announcement is recorded, and which is activated during an announcement interval (T.sub.1) in response to a telephone call, and which causes the recorded announcement on the announcement tape to be transmitted over the telephone line to the calling party during that interval. At the end of the announcement interval (T.sub.1) a message tape (T-2) is activated, and the message received over the telephone line from the calling party during the ensuing time interval (T.sub.2) is recorded.
The remote control of the telephone answering system described in the Darwood patent, and of the telephone answering system of the present invention, may be achieved by means of a small portable transmitter unit which is held up by the calling party to the mouthpiece of a telephone, and which is pushbutton controlled to transmit a remote control tone signal over the telephone line. The telephone answering systems of the Darwood patent and of the present invention are designed to respond to the particular tone frequency of the control signal to activate a remote control circuit, so that the message tape may be rewound and then set to a playback condition so that the messages on the tape may be successively transmitted over the telephone line to the calling party.
In the telephone answering system described in the Darwood patent, the T-1 announcement tape is an endless tape on which the announcement is recorded, and which makes a complete revolution during the announcement interval (T.sub.1); and the T-2 message tape is in the form, for example, of a tape cassette, which is moved in the forward direction during each message recording interval (T.sub.2), and which is rewound and then again moved in the forward direction during playback. In the embodiment of the present invention to be described, the announcement tape is a cassette similar to the message tape, and it is rewound at the end of the message interval (T.sub.2).
In the system of the present invention the remote control tone signal can be sent to the telephone answering system by the calling party over the telephone line at any time during the (T.sub.1) or (T.sub.2) intervals, whereas in the system described in the Darwood patent, the remote control signal had to be sent during the announcement interval (T.sub.1). In the system of the present invention, when the remote control signal is received by the system it is fed to a microcomputer which is utilized in the system to control its operation. If the remote control signal is sent during the announcement interval (T.sub.1), the microcomputer causes the T-1 announcement tape to stop, and then causes the T-2 message tape to rewind a controlled amount so that messages recorded on the message tape may be played back over the telephone line. If the remote control signal is sent during the message recording interval (T.sub.2), after the announcement tape has stopped, the message tape is stopped, and it is rewound a controlled amount so that messages recorded on the tape may be played back to the calling party over the telephone line.
In either case, when the remote control signal is transmitted to the telephone answering system, either during the announcement interval (T.sub.1) or during the message recording interval (T.sub.2) the microcomputer causes the system to transmit a series of beep tones to the calling party over the telephone line. If the calling party again sends the remote control signal to the telephone answering system during the series of beep tones, a new announcement may be recorded on the T-1 announcement tape. On the receipt of the remote control signal during that interval, the announcement tape is wound to its beginning position, at which time the microcomputer causes a continuous tone to be transmitted to the calling party over the telephone line indicating that the system is now ready to receive the new announcement. The calling party then transmits the new announcement over the telephone line, and it is recorded on the T-1 announcement tape. The calling party then transmits the remote control signal once more, which causes the microcomputer to stop the announcement tape, and to cause a beep tone to be recorded on the announcement tape, indicating the end of the announcement.
The microcomputer then automatically causes the T-1 announcement tape to be rewound to its beginning position, and then to play back the new announcement to the calling party over the telephone line for monitoring purposes. When the recorded beep tone is reached, the microcomputer causes the system to switch over to the normal message recording interval (T.sub.2). At that time, if the calling party is satisfied with the new announcement, he merely hangs up, and the system will be returned by the microcomputer to its usual standby condition. If the calling party is not satisfied with the new announcement,. at that time, he can repeat the steps described above, and record a new announcement.
However, if after the remote control signal has been sent to the telephone answering system for the first time during the announcement interval (T.sub.1) or during the message recording interval (T.sub.2), and if the remote control signal is not sent to the system during the interval of the series of beeps, the microcomputer will cause a four-second tone signal to be transmitted to the calling party if there are no new messages recorded on the T-2 message tape since his last remote operation, and the calling party can then hang up, enabling the microcomputer to return the system to its normal standby condition.
However, if there are new messages recorded on the message tape, the microcomputer will not cause the four-second tone signal to be transmitted to the calling party, and will cause the message tape (T-2) to rewind to a position corresponding to the beginning of the new messages, and at that time will cause the message tape to play back the new messages over the telephone line to the calling party. The microcomputer will cause a beep tone to be transmitted to the calling party every 3 seconds as long as the message tape (T-2) is being rewound.
At any time during the playback period, the calling party may transmit the remote control signal over the telephone line, and upon the receipt of the remote control signal the microcomputer will cause the message tape (T-2) to backspace for as long as the calling party continues the remote control signal. This permits the calling party to cause the machine to transmit to him any of the previously recorded messages.
After the last of the new messages has been played back over the telephone line to the calling party, the microcomputer will cause a four-second tone to be transmitted over the telephone line to the calling party. The calling party may hang up during that tone, in which event the telephone answering system will revert to the announcement interval (T.sub.1), and the T-1 announcement tape will be rewound to its beginning position. The T-2 message tape will remain at its last position, and the messages recorded on the message tape will be saved.
If, on the other hand, the calling party does not hang up during the four-second tone, the microcomputer will then cause a series of beep tones to be sent to the calling party over the telephone line. If the calling party transmits the remote control signal during the beep tones, the T-2 message tape will be caused to rewind to the beginning of the new messages recorded on that tape, and the new messages will be erased. At the same time, the T-1 announcement tape will be caused to rewind to its beginning position.
During any remote operation, the calling party may record a flag message on the message tape by waiting for the beep at the end of the announcement on the announcement tape, and by then dictating the flag message over the telephone line. The remote operation may then be initiated by the transmission of the remote control tone signal after the flag message has been recorded.
It should be noted that the microcomputer continually keeps track of the position of the T-2 message tape, so that there is no need for the calling party to send the remote control signal to the system after the last message has been read back to him in order to stop the message tape, since the tape is automatically stopped under the control of the micro-computer.
Should the calling party hang up at any time during the playback operation, the T-2 tape will be automatically advanced to the end of the new messages.